Riding a bike is great exercise and it’s supposed to be an ideal way to lose weight. But when Bill Penney, president of Marine Bank on the barrier island, rode more than 68 miles on his bike on his 68th birthday two years ago to raise money for charity, he says he thinks he actually gained weight.

That’s because his route took him past all of the bank’s branch offices and at every stop along the way, cheering groups of Marine Bank employees and customers fed him pieces of birthday cake they had prepared for him.

So this year, when Penney rides 70 miles on his 70th birthday on Friday, May 22, he has only one request for all his employees and other well-wishers along the way: “Please go easy on the cake!”

Penney has dubbed the upcoming ride the 70 Forever Young Tour and he is confident he will be able to complete the feat on his 70th birthday. He’s been in serious training for the past several weekends, riding increasing distances each week, doing 40 miles on the first Saturday in May, Kentucky Derby Day, then 50 miles the following weekend and 60 miles last weekend.

“I’ll be ready,” Penney says.

It’s not a race, and Penney says he has no specific time goal in mind for completing the “tour de force,” but he does have a fundraising goal, hoping to raise at least $16,000, the same amount he raised for charity two years ago.

“And of course it would be awesome if we could hit $20,000,” Penney adds.

Two years ago, the beneficiary of Penney’s 68th birthday charity ride was the new aquarium being built in Port Canaveral by Brevard Zoo. This year, the beneficiary will be the local Center for Memory and Movement, an organization dedicated to finding cures for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.

The only thing that’s undecided – and it’ll be a last-minute decision – is whether Penney will pedal north to south or the other way around. That’ll depend on the prevailing wind that day, since Penney admits that even for a seasoned rider like himself, doing 70 miles into a stiff wind would be too much.

“I need the wind in my back,” he says.

When he did a similar route two years ago, he was supposed to start in Fort Pierce, since the prevailing winds in May in our area are mostly from the south, but at the last moment he had to switch everything around and start at the Brevard Zoo because the winds turned around and were blowing from the north.

If he does have a prevailing southerly wind this time, Penney will start at Marine Bank’s Fort Pierce branch, go past the bank’s branches in Vero Beach and continue north along State Road A1A to cross the Indian River Lagoon on a friend’s boat to visit the Marine Bank branch in Sebastian. From there, he will re-cross the lagoon and continue north along A1A to visit the Marine branch in Melbourne.

He will ride mostly along A1A instead of U.S. 1 because it is safer for cyclists. “U.S. 1 is a little treacherous for bikers,” Penney says.

Penney rides a Swiss-made BMC bike made of carbon fiber with disc brakes. “It’s human-powered – no e-assist! – and more sophisticated than the rider,” he says.

Penney has been tackling birthday charity rides for the past 20 years, but while most people do a little less exercise as they get older, Penney is doing more and more.

When he turned 50, he covered 50 miles on rollerblades on his birthday and raised more than $8,000 for the local United Way. When he turned 55, he did 55 miles for the local Red Cross, again on rollerblades.

He skipped the year he turned 60 because his birthday fell on the same weekend his daughter was getting married, and at age 65, he switched from rollerblades to his bicycle, which was a little easier on his aging legs and ankles. That time, he managed to raise $15,000 in sponsorships and pledges for the Center for Memory and Movement, where he was chairman at the time.

Penney’s birthday falls on a Friday this year, so all his bank’s branches will be open for business as usual, but he’s not worried about taking the time off from his banking duties.

“Our staff is amazing and they’ll take care of business just fine,” Penney says. “And if they really need me for something, I’ll be visiting all the branches, so they’ll always know where to find me!”

This year will be the first time Penney will perform the birthday feat since the merger of Marine Bank with the ELGA Credit Union of Michigan became final in March. At that time, Marine Bank was rebranded as Marine Bank, a division of ELGA Credit Union.

“They are also very community-minded,” Penney says of the Michigan-based ELGA banking team. “They’re excited that I’m doing this and they’re 100 percent supportive.”

To sponsor Penney on his 70 Forever Young Tour, visit https://secure.qgiv.com/for/70foreveryoungtour